Reality of the Image
by Suadela
Summary: A look inside the mind of the three people who learn the Bruce Wayne the world knows is nothing close the the complex character of the real thing. Yes, I am still working on Coleman Reese.
1. Lucius Fox

_A.N. I love stories where people find out about the main character's duel identity. I love their reactions when the boring/ annoying image they saw crumbles into someone they had admired all along; someone amazing. So, I love stories where people find out that Bruce Wayne and Batman are one in the same. That the playboy is a façade to hide the deep personality he actually has. I looked and realized there are far too few of them floating around so I decided to add my own. I plan to make this a three chapter story showing the three people who find out about the Wayne/Batman connection. The only reason I'm not doing Alfred is because he saw Bruce as he really was from the very beginning. So, read and enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I turned on the searchlight for Batman and he came. I asked him if I could own him and he said no. I asked him why not and he said if I asked him again I'd regret it. I haven't the nerve to ask again. So no, I don't own Batman._

Lucius Fox

Lucius was not bitter that he had been moved down to the basement of the Wayne Enterprises building. He was not the least bit angry about being kicked from his position on the board so soon after the death of Thomas Wayne nor did he actively care what Earle did with the company now that his friend was dead.

In fact, the only thing he truly cared about nowadays was building things. So, if Earle wanted to throw him in with all the other useless "junk", as he so kindly put it, Lucius was quite content to follow those orders. It was far better down in the basement alone than upstairs with the man breathing down his neck.

There had been one hope he had for the return of Wayne Enterprises to its former glory. That hope lay in the hands of one small boy. He was an angry boy, according to Alfred, and spent several of his school days suspended because he bloodied the noses of too many bullies. The parents assumed the Wayne boy was the actual bully and the schools were forced to take action against him. Lucius had to admit he liked him based on that fact alone, if nothing else. The kid had his values and like his father, he wasn't afraid to stand up for them and make the difference. Even if it was a bit violently.

Years passed with things getting worse for the morals of the company and young Wayne grew up into and angry teenager then an angry college student. Fourteen years after the death of Thomas and Martha, Joe Chill, their murderer, was to be released from prison in exchange for information on the crime lord of the city. Informants were the worst kind of criminal in Lucius' opinion. They were still able to commit their crimes but were protected by the very police who should be arresting them. He did not believe the boy would handle that very well.

But Lucius didn't get to find out how well Thomas' son reacted to the release then sudden murder of Chill. He had disappeared and Earle was only too happy to pronounce him dead after only a few months and work on taking the company public. Apparently a life long goal of his. Lucius stayed quiet about it but personally, he thought the man was an idiot. As soon as the company went public, Earle would have less control over it even if he did get more money. But the vision Thomas had would never be seen if Wayne Enterprises started selling stocks.

By some miracle, seven years after the hearing, the kid made his presence back in Gotham known. Although Bruce Wayne could hardly be called a kid anymore, now standing over six feet tall; Lucius told himself old habits die hard. But the kid turned out to be a huge disappointment. Wayne was one who was only good to entertain and little else. Where had the angry kid gone? The one so full of promise and spirit who would have been able to turn this company, this _city_, around. Dead, he supposed, along with his parents and what was left was an idiotic playboy who just partied and slept. Poor Alfred had to put up with that.

Lucius should have known better. The moment Bruce Wayne entered his solitary domain he realized he had the man figured wrong. At least partially. The playboy image was cracked when he saw the genuine interest Wayne had when he was shown around the department. He asked intelligent questions and understood the answers that were given to him.

The playboy image was completely shattered in Lucius' eyes when Wayne asked him about memory cloth and body armor. Spelunking, he used as an excuse and smiled with pursed lips and raised eyebrows. Oh, this kid was _good_. It was an act! The arrogance, the frivolity, the Bruce Wayne the world saw; it was an act. If he looked hard, he could see the patient intelligence that hid in his eyes. If he listened, he could hear the sharp wit Wayne actually had when he spoke, even if it was covered by the playboy stupidity. He even saw the fiery anger he had heard so much about from Alfred.

And then Lucius loved most about the whole thing was whatever passed between them was never acknowledged. He never mentioned he knew what Mr. Wayne did with his inventions and Mr. Wayne always had some sporting excuse for using them. It became a joke and both men had a mutual understanding of what was going on. That was when he smiled and told Mr. Wayne that all his inventions belonged to him and no one would be the wiser of his "borrowing" it. After all, whatever the kid was going to do with it was going to be more entertaining that if it stayed in its spot safely archived.

When he saw the Tumbler on the 11 o' clock news, Lucius just smiled. Yes, he liked this kid quite a bit.

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_I like reviews. I'm sure if you write something, you do too. If you wrote something and I read it, you'd want me to review, wouldn't you? It's not hard. Just push the friendly button on the left of the screen. :) _


	2. Rachel Dawes

_A.N. First off, I want to thank all my reviewers. You guys are great! –blows out kisses and the like- You guys are the wind beneath my wings. I'm sorry this chapter took so long in coming out but one thing about me is I work s-l-o-w. I'll even sit on a project until I'm absolutely satisfied with it or I feel that it's as good as it's gonna get. :) But I love all of your reviews and have each of them written down in my ego book. So _**thank you**!_ That book needs a bit more filling. Anyway…_

_As much as I like Rachel, she is one hard chica to write. There are three reasons for that. One, all her thoughts and emotions are already scripted out very well in the movie. So much so that this chapter basically recaps what happened in the movie and it annoys the hell outta me. But I had a hard enough time writing this, I'm not scrapping it for anything. Two, she basically has two different personalities. The one Katie Holms had and the one Maggie Gyllenhaal had. Now I tried to ignore Maggie's presentation of Rachel (as this is still Batman Begins) and I think I did a fairly good job with that but it was still quite hard. But the thing that made it hard to write this chapter was the fact that Rachel does not care one bit about Batman. It took me a bit to realize this but she doesn't. During Batman Begins she's so focused on trying to save Gotham she practically ignores Batman until he saves her from the toxin. It's one thing I like about her actually. In all the other Batman movies, the girl is entranced by Batman. So it made things a little difficult and this chapter didn't turn out as well as I hoped. But I did my best and I hope you guys enjoy it._

_Disclaimer: So, I gathered the courage to try asking if I could own Batman again. I went to the top of the MCU to turn on the searchlight but Gordon caught me. He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was trying to get the rights to own Batman. He looked at me kinda weird then said if he catches me at the MCU again, he'll make sure I stay there for a longer period of time. So, I still don't own Batman and the searchlight got broken… :(_

Rachel Dawes

Rachel both loved and hated the city of Gotham. She loved it for the precious memories it held when she was growing up. The ones with her mother working happily, Bruce sticking his tongue out at her and Alfred not telling the Wayne's she was the one who broke the vase. Those memories were precious to her; made her realize that there was more to life than just fighting. There was a chance to actually be happy in this Godforsaken city, even if that chance was slim.

Then the bad memories would follow. Bruce's parents were shot in an alleyway and everything turned around and she hated what the city had become. Without Wayne Enterprises doing everything in its power to stabilize the shaky economy things became worse than ever. The city was rotting and the stench made Rachel gag.

Even her best friend seemed to follow that path. The day of Joe Chill's trial Bruce showed her the gun he meant to use. Ashamed, Rachel slapped him. How could he even think of something so selfish at a time like this? Who did he think he was to assume that he could be the judge over another mans life? She thought of his father and the effort he put into bringing the city out of its depression. He would be mortified if he were alive to see what his son was doing.

After she told him so, he got out of the car and stalked off. Her head was buzzing with anger and it wasn't until it cleared did she realize the danger she had left Bruce in. Granted, he could take care of himself pretty well. She had heard what Alfred said about him being kicked out of Princeton for his behavior and the fights he apparently got into all the time. Ever since the death of his parents, Bruce had become a stranger to her. Every year he would close himself up more, making it next to impossible for her to break through the barriers he put up and see the friend she made so long ago locked away.

And she had left him in the slums of Gotham. Her hotheaded friend would probably do just as she suggested and approach Falcone. Gritting her teeth she turned the car around and went back in to look for him, intent on picking him up and probably saving his life. And maybe yell at him a bit more.

But he was gone. Disappeared into thin air and then shortly pronounced dead. She didn't go to his "funeral"; sure that somewhere out there he was finding the answers he so desperately sought. Years passed by without a single word from him and even she started to believe he really was gone for good. So she did everything she could to forget about him.

The city on the other hand, she could not and would not forget about. Falcone's drug and weapon dealings paid him off very well and he used that money wisely, paying of the right people so he would never have to be behind bars again. The streets above the slums filled up with drug addicts and drug dealers and illegal weapons could be bought as easily as a pack of cigarettes. The police were paid hush money on the criminal activity and many were paid a little extra to help with the weapon and drug deals.

When she heard Bruce Wayne was back in town she was shocked. Not only by the fact that he was alive, but by the fact that he hadn't called her. She guessed that he was busy getting his affairs in order. After a disappearance for seven years, things managed to stack up. But she still wasn't happy. She had thought their friendship was important to him. Apparently not if he wouldn't even let her know he was back.

Not long after Bruce's return, she met a very strange character. He said Falcone was after her blood for rattling his cage. He gave her "leverage, to get things moving" on Judge Faden making deals with the mob. Confused and scared she focused on the evidence he gave her. When she looked up, he was gone as if he was never there to begin with. Rachel took the information home and smiled as she looked over it. The bat guy had given her all she needed to help her clean up the streets in Gotham. At least someone in this town had enough fight in him to do what was necessary. There was hope at last.

She was on her way to a date at some fancy hotel when she saw Bruce Wayne for the first time in years. Her once best friend was dripping wet with two exotic women attached to his arms. When she called out to him and he turned around with a look of recognition, happiness then regret on his face. That reaction puzzled her at first but then she started to piece together what had happened to her friend. Swimming in a five star restaurant with the two women now wrapped in bathrobes. He was just out having fun while she was busting her ass doing what his father tried so hard to do.

In their brief conversation, she could tell he regretted her seeing him like this. He regretted the fact that he didn't have more to show her. She regretted it too. The friend she knew was still there somewhere, buried deep and worn from fighting so hard. It renewed her motivation for her fight against Gotham's underworld. She couldn't bare it if she turned out the same as her friend. Lifeless.

Telling him those cutting words, she hoped to spur him into action. Anything to get him turned back down a path she could follow him, but it seemed for naught. Carl had gone missing and she seemed to be the only one who cared enough to go look for him. The next time she saw Bruce was on his birthday, the second day of Carl's disappearance. She was quite happy to have an excuse not to spend any more time with the jerk her friend had turned into and gave him his present, still hopeful that maybe bringing the past back to him would bring back her friend. Bruce caught her slightly off guard when he sincerely told her to be careful.

Crane had put Falcone in Arkham. That was unacceptable. There was no way in hell Falcone would have a psychotic breakdown just before he was indicted. Did Crane think her an idiot? Of course he had to have put some sort of drug in his system to make him scream and shudder. Some sort of hallucinogen. But she should have been more careful. The creepy feeling she always got around Crane increased when she mentioned the possibility of drugs and how she had someone on their way to check out Falcone's blood. Crane then took her downstairs to where they made the "medicine".

Rachel didn't remember much after that. Just bugs and the Batman driving and how scared she was. She must have passed out at some point because when her mind cleared she was in a cave of some sort. The Batman stood a comfortable distance away and told her what she needed to do. Give the antidote to a policeman by the name of Gordon for his use and mass production.

When she woke up again, she immediately grabbed the vials that were set on her nightstand and rushed to the Narrows as fast as she could. What she saw when she got there was nothing short of chaos. It didn't take long before that chaos turned into an outright foggy panic. Rachel had found a boy who was scared out of his mind and she kept his shaking form in her embrace. She would protect the innocent with her very last breath if she needed to. But it would be hard to do when she was surrounded by criminals. Insane or not.

The boy had absolute faith that Batman would save them. As if he was some sort of comic book super hero who had the power to protect all the innocents in the city. Rachel knew that most likely he was busy somewhere else fighting off injustice. However, before she fired the gun in her hand at the advancing men, Batman had fought them off and pulled her and the boy to safety on a roof.

The boy smiled at her in relief, glad that Batman had proven his faith right. He was the good guy who could and would protect them from the dangers of Gotham city. At that moment, looking at the trust in that boy's eyes, Rachel had to agree. To a point anyway. She looked up and saw that Batman was about to jump off to the train. She called out to him, asked him his name so if he died, he would at least be remembered as the man he truly was by one of the people he saved. He turned to her and she suddenly didn't want to know. The look in those eyes was too familiar. Before he even said the words, she had a strong feeling she already knew him.

_It's not who I am underneath, but what I _do_ that defines me._

Bruce?

Then a look of satisfaction graced her features as she thought, "Yes, I can accept this."

After all, if his anger was still there then the man she loved had to be as well. She'd just have to wait for when Gotham no longer needed Batman. Then the playboy act would no longer be required and she would finally get her friend back.

Turning back to the boy who was glancing around nervously she gave a small smile. She could wait.

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_So, that was about 300 words short of being twice as long as last chapter. I don't think I could write a good long chapter to save my life… But anyway, I still like reviews. They make me so happy. :D_

_And next chapter is the one most of us have been waiting for. Yes, even me. Coleman Reese everyone! WHOOT! I have a strange feeling he'll be much easier than Rachel to write. :)_


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